Mendocino County Today: Sunday, July 17, 2016

• Harry Blythe
• Nate Thurmond
• Pot Inspector
• Simon Says
• Vote Counting
• Unfunny People
• The Infiltrator
• Trump/Pence
• Unpopularity Contest
• Begging You
• Newt Sharia
• Green Slime
• Selling Out
• Chopped Liver
• CPUC Hearing
• Bernie Quixote
• Jump Barrier
• Pokemon Warning
• Brainwashed Populace
• Erdogan's Gift

HARRY AUSTIN BLYTHE JR. (1927 - 2015)

Harry Austin Blythe Jr., 88 — Aug. 25, 1927 Dec. 19, 2015

Harry Austin Blythe Jr., age 88, passed away the morning of Dec. 19, 2015, at home with his children close. Born Aug. 25, 1927, in the Woodlawn area of Chicago, Harry attended Fiske Elementary and Hyde Park High schools. He graduated from Hyde Park High in June 1945 at age 17 and the next day his mother signed a consent form so he could enlist in the U.S. Navy. Harry was stationed in Corpus Christi, Texas, and served as a medical corpsman.

After his discharge from the Navy, Harry returned to Illinois to attend Bradley University, where he met his wife of 55 years, Barbara Joanne Stone. Harry and Barbara were married Feb. 11, 1950, and settled in Peoria, Ill., where Harry got a job selling ads for the Peoria newspaper and Barbara became a schoolteacher.

In 1953, the Los Angeles Times offered Harry a job selling ads and they moved to Burbank, Calif. Upon moving to Burbank, the Blythe family grew with the births of son, John, and daughters, Merry and Leslie, in the years 1954, 1955 and 1956, respectively. Soon after this, Harry began working in sales for Ohio Medical and the Blythe family grew by one more in 1962 with the birth of their daughter, Stephanie.

In 1968, Harry’s job transferred him to the San Francisco Bay Area, so the family moved to Piedmont. Then, in the mid-'70s, Harry and Barbara purchased a home on four acres on the Mendocino coast and would spend most of their weekends there. Harry soon bought the Coast Peddler, a small newspaper based out of Mendocino, which evolved to being the Mendocino Commentary under his ownership.

Throughout the 1980s, Harry split his time between Mendocino and San Francisco. He and Barbara sold their home in Piedmont and moved to San Francisco. Harry worked selling surgical equipment for Medical Technologies in San Francisco and continued to publish his newspaper in Mendocino. In 1991, Barbara retired from her teaching career so they sold their home on the Mendocino coast along with the newspaper and moved to Portland.

After getting settled in Portland, Harry began selling ads for the Southwest Portland Post and he and Barbara did some traveling. Barbara died in 2005 and for the next 10 years, Harry continued to sell ads while making new friends and enjoying time with his family.

Harry was a lifelong fan of the Chicago Cubs, as well as an all-around fan of track and field, football, basketball and baseball. He loved listening to music and enjoyed going to see movies on Sunday afternoons, having breakfast at his neighborhood bakery and listening to public radio. He loved to read and especially enjoyed poetry, periodicals and The New York Times. Harry was curious about everything and loved his life.

Harry Austin Blythe Jr. is survived by his sister, Bette Blythe of Las Vegas; children, John Blythe (Denise) of San Anselmo, Calif., Merry Pettis (Bill) of Portland, Leslie Pressman (Stuart) of Carmel Valley, Calif., and Stephanie Evjen (Eddy) of Portland; grandchildren, Eric, Ashlie, Andrew, Sara, Molly, Austin and Laura; great-grandchildren, Trevrik, Emmett, Fairen and Benny; and many nieces, nephews and dear friends.

Harry will be missed by his friends and family and will be remembered for his quick wit, corny jokes, snappy one-liners and his overall kind and caring nature.

(Courtesy, the Portland Oregonian)

NO CHALLENGE TOO GREAT:

Remembering Nate Thurmond

by Bruce Jenkins

There are those who suggest Nate Thurmond — who died at the age of 74 on Saturday, July 16, 2016, after a battle with leukemia — came along too early in the NBA timeline, that the magnificence of his all-around ability would be most appreciated today. I never got that sense from the man who passed away Saturday morning. He may have been overshadowed by the great centers of his era, but he was proud to have competed against them at the highest level, earning the utmost respect. To have done that, with his distinctive grace and dignity, makes him one of the most important figures in league history.

During his prime from the mid-60s into the early 70s, it was widely believed he played stingier, tougher defense than Wilt Chamberlain. With his feathery jump shot and inside moves, he clearly provided more offense than Bill Russell. Chamberlain was a specimen for the ages and Russell got the titles, but Thurmond was the best all-around center of his day.

I was fortunate to have witnessed all of them, up close, against the Lakers at the old L.A. Sports Arena. As teenagers, we were blown away by Chamberlain’s overwhelming presence and Russell’s stern countenance, each setting historical standards yet to be matched. But there was something about Thurmond, 6 feet, 11 inches of pure sinew. When people scoff at the caliber of athleticism in those days, it’s clear they never saw big Nate.

Put it this way: Partly because the Warriors thought so highly of Thurmond in the 1963-64 season, in which they reached the Finals against Russell’s Celtics, they traded Chamberlain to the Philadelphia 76ers during the following season. Whether it was scoring, defending, rebounding, shot-blocking or attitude — the kind of team-first mentality so characteristic of today’s Warriors — Thurmond had it all.

And such a gentle soul at heart. For 20 years he operated Big Nate’s Barbecue on Folsom Street, and if guests were lucky, they might catch a glimpse of him. They’d have a pretty good idea he was a basketball player, but he wasn’t given to boasts or glorified reminiscence. His mere presence exuded style, accomplishment and contentment, a life well lived.

It’s an astonishing coincidence that Thurmond and Gus Johnson, the first consistently mind-blowing dunker in the NBA, attended the same high school in LeBron James’ home town of Akron, Ohio. Thurmond was raw and rail-thin at the time, not truly blossoming until his senior year at Bowling Green State University, where he was named to the All-American team.

Still, after playing alongside the electrifying Johnson, Thurmond wasn’t going to be surprised by anything on a basketball court. His confident sense of calm made him an intriguing frontcourt partner with Chamberlain, and by the 1964 playoffs, he was averaging 34 minutes per game in that remarkable “twin towers” setup.

The prime of Thurmond’s career was all about versatile, dominant centers: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Wes Unseld, Bob Lanier, Willis Reed, Walt Bellamy. Thurmond was selected to play in seven All-Star games, but if he didn’t always get proper credit, it’s that he was more about work ethic and consistency than eye-opening episodes.

“It’s like for Muhammad Ali to be recognized as great, he had to have Joe Frazier,” Thurmond once said. “If I wanted to be known as a great defensive ballplayer, then I had to be able to stop the men who liked to score. That was my attitude. I wasn’t a hell of a leaper, but I had good timing. Playing power forward next to Wilt, I was able to pick up skills in lateral movement and footwork, which helped my outside shot quite a bit. And I will say that with Wilt, I had an advantage because I practiced against him for a year and a half. I was the kind of guy who really liked to study his opponents. So I knew what he did and didn’t like to do.”

Abdul-Jabbar proved to be a mighty challenge “with that great footwork and sky-hook of his,” but Kareem often said nobody played him tougher. “A lot of guys beat on me and said they played good defense, but Nate could actually do it,” Kareem told the L.A. Times. “He had the length and the agility and he knew what he was doing.”

Thurmond was a two-way force in his prime with the Warriors, averaging at least 20 points per game for five straight seasons (1968-72) and averaging 25 points and 18 rebounds during the team’s five-game playoff loss to Kareem’s Milwaukee Bucks in ’72. By the summer of ’74, at 32, his production had diminished — and he was traded to the Chicago Bulls for a promising young center named Clifford Ray and a No. 1 draft pick that turned out to be Joe Bryant — who later became known as the father of Kobe.

As fate would have it, Ray and George Johnson teamed up at center on the Golden State team that won the 1975 NBA title — a great moment in franchise history but one tinged with regret among those close to Thurmond.“That was tough, mentally,” he said of the Warriors winning that championship without him. “Because you think, was I doing something to hold them back?”

He was far from finished: In his first game with the Bulls, he registered the first quadruple-double in NBA history. And that Chicago team nearly upset Rick Barry’s Warriors in the ’75 Western Conference finals, taking a 3-2 series lead before the Warriors nailed down the Game 7 clincher in Oakland.

In a fitting conclusion to Thurmond’s career, he went home. The Bulls traded him to Cleveland in the early stages of the 1975-76 season., and having grown up “just six blocks from where LeBron grew up” in Akron, he was on familiar ground. The Cavaliers were 6-11 at the time of the deal, but they went 43-22 the rest of the way, winning a division title for the first time in their history, Thurmond sharing time with Jim Chones at center. They scored a dramatic playoff victory over the Washington Bullets before losing to the Dave Cowens-John Havlicek Celtics in the Eastern finals.

In a tribute that properly captured Thurmond’s value to a team, the Cavs retired his No. 42 despite his playing in just 114 games, as a part-timer, for the franchise.

“Nate gave coach Bill Fitch’s young squad something they were desperately missing — a veteran leader and seasoned big man in the middle,” wrote Joe Gabriele on cavs.com. “He changed the complexion of that team on the floor, bringing a battle-tested Hall of Fame attitude to a young team.”

There’s nobody quite like Thurmond among today’s group of NBA centers. With the emphasis shifting rapidly to the three-point shot, there are some impressive athletes down low, but none with Thurmond’s combination of two-way skills and court presence. About a year ago, I asked him how he thought he’d fare in today’s game.

“I think I’d hold my own,” he said, smiling.

Nary a soul would protest.

(Courtesy, the San Francisco Chronicle)

A READER forwarded to us an email found on the County’s website concerning the County's (forever) pending pot regs and tax proposals. The email is actually a chain of emails from Julie Carrera to the small farmers association which she sort of represents. One of the small farmers is Rosie Wagenet who is the wife of former Supervisor Hal Wagenet who simply forwarded the email to her husband Hal Wagenet who commented on the matter to the Board of Supervisors, hence the email appearing on the County website.

Ms. Carrera is the (former?) third party pot inspector whose memorably hilarious testimony in the trial of a local weenie wagger forever endeared us to her (https://www.theava.com/archives/24385) Apparently she used to charge pot growers for compliance inspections back in the days when the County had its own soon aborted pot cultivation ordinance known as 9.31. It was dropped when the feds threatened to sue the County for aiding and abetting a felony, i.e. pot production.

Ms. Carrera’s mid-May email to the Small (pot) Farmers Association expressed delight that the County was about to enact some updated pot cultivation regs under pressure from the State of California and the new semi-legalized pot growing rules under “agriculture,” with taxes for those growers who volunteer to be regulated and taxed.

Toward the end of her merry email, Ms. Carrera says, “Fill out your applications the moment they are available. Your built in 3rd Party Inspector will go along with the Sheriff for free to you!”

Mr. Wagenet then wrote an indignant email to Supervisor John McCowen and the rest of the Board of Supervisors saying that Ms. Carrera's attempts to participate in the latest round of regs and inspections (which have since been temporarily tabled because of the Black Tail Deer lawsuit) was a conflict of interest because Ms. Carrera is already a member of the growers association and therefore “Julie Carrera’s assumption that she will be an inspector and provide her services gratis to her associates is a clear conflict of interest and an outrageous example of nepotism and lack of objectivity in this capacity. If she is ever considered for such a position this email will be run up every flagpole in sight."

Wagenet's got a point. But the issue is moot for now. Ms. Carrera is basically cheerleading for the new regulatory regime which she offers to somehow facilitate or participate in by accompanying the Sheriff on pot grow inspections. And maybe parlay those initial inspections into a job for herself later. We don't know.

Wagenet's worried that she wouldn't be very "independent" as a “third party inspector” if she’s also a member of or advocate for the growers association. We have no idea what the new (draft) rules say about third party inspections. (They were required under the old 9.31 program.) The whole pot regulation and tax idea is a an unfunny joke (because you have to volunteer to pay fees and taxes and hire lawyers and water consultants and be inspected and comply with complicated and very tedious rules. If you don’t volunteer you might run afoul of law enforcement). So far most Mendo growers have stayed away in droves from the new regs, although there are a few brave growers who want to go legit — if the rules are friendly to them and the taxes are low — although that’s no guarantee of a law enforcement pass.

Wouldn't it be nice if we had independent third party inspections of grapes? Unless that third party inspector was, say, Glen McGourty, who thinks everything grape growers do is, um, peachy. In which case we’d have a situation similar to the one Mr. Wagenet is complaining about for pot.

THE KID who set off the combined arson-gun-scraggle-hair-barefoot-crazy-man-in-the-Mendo-Village-woods alert last week has been identified as 18-year-old Simon Raye. Raye, who also goes by Simon Peter, was found by police about 4:30 that afternoon in Fort Bragg. He was booked into the County Jail on $25,000 bail.

The kid says on his FaceBook page he'd ingested "dabs" aka honey oil, which temporarily turned him into a free range nut pie. His photo portrays just about the least maniacal-looking dude to pass through the County Jail lately. We hope he re-thinks "dabs." A friend says the boy passed through the Mendo schools and speculates he's "just another spoiled, self-entitled kid like the many we see out here." Reading his stuff on FaceBook I'd say he's smart but intellectually lost in that big vat of Mendo-unique pseudo-mysticism and narcissism that sinks a lot of young people around here. The schools give them straight-A's and tell them how wonderful and unique they are then, when they step out of the cocoon, discover they aren't special and that the world is indifferent to them. I have no idea how we might go about restoring a sense of proportion and reasonable expectation in the young but we might start by ending this baloney about "You can be whatever you want to be," like doing anything at all of productive value is laying around with your high school diploma and all you've got to do is go out there and the world will fall at your feet. Study and discipline might get you somewhere; but life, however you cut it, is a crap shoot. (Brought to you in the broad interests of Realism by the Boonville newspaper.)

HELP AMERICA VOTE?

To the Editor of the Ukiah Daily Journal:

Your July 3rd editorial contained a glaring mistake that may be skewing your view that the length of time required to canvass an election in Mendocino County is way too long.

In your second recommendation, you state, “Even if 900 people go to the wrong precincts to vote and create provisional ballots, if you have the other 27,000 votes in the machines, it doesn’t matter if it takes two weeks to count the 900.”

The thing is, the machines (one per polling place) are clunky things that are required in federal elections by the inaptly named “Help America Vote Act.” Those machines are expensive and really difficult to set up, discouraging some would-be poll workers from volunteering.

For a couple of elections we did indeed have machines that scanned the ballots at the polling places, rejecting ballots that were incorrectly cast (allowing the voter to immediately correct his or her errors on a clean ballot). The scanners tallied the ballots. At the close of the polls (8 P.M.), the poll worker hooked the scanner to a modem which transferred the results to the central computer in the county offices. Hence nearly instant results.

Alas, it turned out that those scanners were easy targets for hackers and so they were disallowed. It may be that you were thinking of the halcyon days (which were few) when those machines were in use.

Now we are stuck with a mishmash of a system; one clunky machine per polling place, paper ballots that must be checked and scanned at the county office, and provisional ballots, which take an inordinate amount of time on the part of poll workers at the polling places plus additional time for checking at the county office.

I used to be an advocate for everyone going to a polling place to vote, but I have changed my mind. Oregon has switched to entirely mail-in ballots, which has not hurt their voter participation. In fact, voter participation in Oregon is 30% higher than in California. It’s time we followed Oregon and switched.

Janie Sheppard

Ukiah

CATCH OF THE DAY, July 16, 2016

(Unavailable due to Booking Log server error.)

PEOPLE WHO AREN'T FUNNY

Things stick in your mind. Years ago, Barry Bonds, of all people, said in an interview that he didn't think Jerry Seinfeld was funny. From then on I regarded Bonds with renewed interest. I, too, never thought Seinfeld was funny, that his show was so smugly awful in the smirking, prudently ironical way that lots of people seem to find amusing, I couldn't get through a single episode. My credentials? Ladies and germs, I saw Lenny Bruce live. Twice! When you pick yourself up off the floor after absorbing that ultimate credential, I'll add that the only other comedian I saw live was Bill Cosby at my nephew's opening concert at his SF Jazz Center. The next day I ran into my neighbor, Aidin Vazri, the Chron's show biz reviewer. We chatted about the previous night's big event. I said I didn't get the squeak-squawk jazz and I thought Cosby was beyond un-funny, shambling on stage unprepared and rambling on like a guy who thought he was real cute and charming but was so painfully unamusing I felt like leaving. If Cosby had walked into your house with this act you would have asked him to leave before everyone dropped dead from boredom. Cosby probably picked up thirty or forty grand just for being a famous person who showed up. Vazri, surprised, said he thought Cosby was "great." This was pre-scandal Cosby, I should say, but a few months later white America's favorite black man was revealed as an all-round creep. Humor, like beauty, depends on…

LENNY BRUCE was the break-through guy. He was brilliant and really, really funny (so long as he wasn't loaded) with stand-up that would get him banned even more places now than back in the sixties. I also think Richard Pryor, the early Eddie Murphy, some of Robin Williams, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, and George Carlin are funny.

BILL MAHER AND COLBERT, plus Colbert's predecessor, Jon Stewart, leave me colder than cold. Offended, actually, that these guys, political versions of Seinfeld, are considered cutting edge, out there somehow on the very precipice of daring humor, when what we're getting is unfunny entirely within lib-lab parameters.

NOT TRYING to sneak in some kind of back door big shot-ism on you here because, actually, I'm embarrassed by it, but way back when I happened to get about an hour's worth of 15-minute fame, I got some offers to go on national tv, among them a deal from Maher to fly free to LA to be some kind of punching bag for him on his awful show, which I still haven't seen beyond a few minutes. I said no, that I thought he was repulsive and you'd have to pay me lots and lots to go to LA for any reason, and a couple mil cash to even be in the same room as that pig.

I THINK I was prescient, in a way. Maher is worse than ever. I can't even imagine the magnitude of feeb-itis that thinks this guy is funny. But all the famous libs love Maher because they can show off their righteousness big time with Trump as national foil while at the same time demonstrating their own craven fealty to Billery. So, a "friend" sends me a clip of Maher calling Trump's children "Nazis." A real knee-slapper. Another clip shows Maher advising us Bern Feelers to "grow up and get with Hillary." Which wasn't, I guess, supposed to be funny but another demo that the guy's fear to be outside the Great Consensus is so great he has to say stuff like this. And this is considered daring humor. It isn't even humor.

NOT REALLY RECOMMENDED, but if you enjoy visuals of improbable violence and fanciful depictions of general drug scumbaggery, you'll enjoy The Infiltrator, a movie likely to have a strong influence on the current crop of criminally disposed remedial readers presently confined to America's juvenile halls. "O yeah. That's the life for me. Pole dancers, suitcases of cash, lots of tough talk." Bryan Cranston plays a customs agent who infiltrates the famous Colombian drug gang headed up by Pablo Escobar. The movie is supposedly based on the true adventures of a Customs undercover guy called Robert Mazur. The story line, if there is one, is lost in the narrative, which makes less than no sense. I've seen Cranston in the great series Breaking Bad, and as Dalton Trumbo and now as a narc. He's the same guy in all three movies. If he has any range, it isn't yet evident. An actor who can really act, John Leguizamo, is brilliant in this thing, and worth the price of a ticket all by himself. But it's like every other contemporary movie that celebrates aberrant behavior, surprising only in that millions of people seem to think big, vulgar houses, fancy cars, tarted up women, represent the good life. (cf the high end of the Democratic Party)

ANNOUNCING an Indiana crypto-fascist as his running mate, Trump declared Saturday morning, "Mike Pence is a man of honor, character and honesty." Fellow Mendolanders synchronize your watches as the AVA predicts that Pence will soon be caught in the back of a late night limo with an underage prostitute, male or female.

LETTER OF THE WEEK OR:

HOW STUPID DOES HILLARY THINK WE ARE?

From: Julia Ager <dccc@dccc.org>

Subject: begging you

Yikes.

When Bernie Sanders called for unity yesterday, we expected Democrats to...well...unify.

But grassroots Democrats’ support just isn’t coming in.

After Bernie’s call to action, the entire world is watching to see if the Democratic Party can unite. We can’t mess this up.

I’m so sorry to beg, but I REALLY hope there’s a chance you can step up. It’s the only way Democrats can win the White House and Congress.

Will you answer Bernie’s call and chip in $1?

MIDNIGHT DEADLINE: ALL GIFTS TRIPLE-MATCHED

Chip in $1 immediately >>

Chip in $35 immediately >>

Chip in $50 immediately >>

Chip in $100 immediately >>

Chip in $250 immediately >>

Or donate another amount >>

Thank you,

Julia Ager

DCCC Digital Director

NICE ATTACK: Sharia Does Not Mean What Newt Gingrich Thinks It Means - The Atlantic

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/07/gingrich-nice-sharia/491471/

GREEN SLIME CAN KILL YOUR DOG

Press release from Humboldt County Department of Health & Human Services:

Typically, algae warnings come out between late July and early August, coinciding with low flows and sustained high temperatures in the inland areas. These factors, coupled with drought conditions, may cause blue-green algae to grow earlier than usual.

Human activities can have a big effect on nutrient and water flows in rivers, streams and lakes. Nutrients found in fertilizers, animal waste and human waste can stimulate blooms. Excessive water diversions can also increase water temperatures and reduce flows. People can take the following measures to prevent algal blooms in our waters:

Be conservative with the use of water, fertilizers and pesticides on your lawn, garden or agricultural operation.

Avoid nutrient runoff by recycling any “spent” soil that has been used for intensive growing by tilling it back into gardens, or protect it from rainfall.

Create shade and filter out nutrients by planting or maintaining native plants around river banks.

Inspect and pump out septic systems every three to four years.

Prevent surface water runoff from agricultural and livestock areas.

Prevent erosion around construction and logging operations.

Blue-green algae can be present in any fresh water body. It looks like dark green, blue-green, orange or brown scum, foam or mats floating on the water. Most blue-green algae does not affect animals or people, however, warm water and abundant nutrients can cause blue-green algae to grow more rapidly than usual. These floating algal masses or “blooms” can produce natural toxins that are very potent. Dogs and children are most likely to be affected because of their smaller body size and tendency to stay in the water for longer periods of time.

While the presence of blue-green algae toxins has been previously confirmed in some water bodies within Humboldt and Mendocino counties including the South Fork Eel, Van Duzen and Trinity rivers, it is difficult to test and monitor the many miles of our local rivers with conditions that may vary. Most algal blooms in California contain harmless green algae, but it is important to stay safe and avoid contact.

To learn more about the occurrence and appearance of blue-green algae on the South Fork Eel River, see the Eel River Recovery Project Toxic Algae Factsheet http://eelriverrecovery.org/documents/cyanobacteria%20factsheet_Mar26_FINAL.pdf.

DHHS, Mendocino EH, and NCRWQCB officials recommend the following guidelines for recreational users of freshwater areas:

Keep children, pets and livestock from swimming in or drinking water containing algal scums or mats.
Adults should also avoid wading and swimming in water containing algal blooms. Try not to swallow or inhale water spray in an algal bloom area.
If no algal scums or mats are visible, you should still carefully watch young children and warn them not to swallow any water.
Fish should be consumed only after removing the guts and liver and rinsing fillets in tap water.
Never drink, cook with or wash dishes with water from rivers, streams or lakes.
Get medical attention immediately if you think that you, your pet, or livestock might have been poisoned by blue-green algae toxins. Be sure to tell the doctor about possible contact with blue-green algae.
Join or support one of the many watershed and river organizations.
For more information or to report unusual blooms or conditions occurring within Humboldt County, contact Humboldt County Environmental Health at 707-445-6215 or 1-800-963-9241. Photos of suspected blooms can be emailed to envhealth@co.humboldt.ca.us.

To report unusual blooms or conditions occurring within Mendocino County contact 707-234-6625.

More details about blue-green algae are available at the California Department of Public Health’s website at http://www.cdph.ca.gov/healthinfo/environhealth/water/Pages/bluegreenalgae.aspx.

BERNIE SANDERS has been a progressive Democrat/Independent politician for decades. He ran his current presidential campaign on an anti-establishment platform, frequently calling out Wall Street and its ties with Washington. Sanders repeatedly described corporations and their ties to government as the corruption that lies at the roots of an economy that is rigged in favor of the 1%, and prided himself on the fact that his campaign raised all of its money from individual contributions (averaging $27 of course). Further, Bernie correctly identified Hillary Clinton as the representative of the establishment he was rallying people against. He probably knows her record better than most, including her sordid history of corruption, warmongering and trade deals that have made her one of the most unfavorable candidates to run for President of the United States.

Importantly, Bernie Sanders did his research, and still endorsed Hillary Clinton though he had other options (e.g. go Green, bow out without endorsing her, waiting for the convention).

Sanders touted changing the entire system as his objective (that’s what a revolution means), not making small, incremental gains in the form of assurances on the party platform. Any promises about personal promotion to himself or those close to him, such as a VP position or chairing an important committee, fall in the realm of personal gain and are by definition selling out. Thus, any deals that Sanders made with Clinton are a capitulation of his “revolutionary” movement and its incorporation into the Democratic Party establishment.

The Politician’s Dilemma: Results

—Yoav Litvin

TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT!

by Frederick Seidel

A perfect week for digging up the block.

If you care, you repair

The infrastructure or it will despair.

Bear with the noise! We aren’t made of air.

Tyrannosaurus rex on tires, gorging horribly,

Fucks the street in bursts and jerks.

The operator riding it bucks and charges forward

And resumes his hippopotamus mouthfuls.

The scene’s a slaughterhouse

With dead meat screaming.

Maybe the concrete is fully conscious?

Major surgery without anesthesia.

You’ll need earplugs and a hard hat

While this berserk year runs amok.

We actually need to talk.

What now? Now what?

We are poor little lambs who have lost our way.

We are little black sheep who have gone astray.

O say can you see what we’re about to be?

What am I, chopped liver?

O say can you see

We’re about to be

The Nuremberg Rally

In an alley?

I text the sky – hi, sky! –

O infinite and blue!

In a green pasture up in the blue sky a cow chews her heavenly cud,

A garland of orchids around her neck.

Cow-eyed Hera – goddess! – but not goodness –

Not calm, patient, selfless abundance –

Not Hindu! Not moo-cow moo!

But, Donald darling, unmistakeably you.

RURAL TELEPHONE OUTAGES DRAW COMPLAINTS AT UKIAH CPUC HEARING

http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/5847284-181/rural-telephone-outages-draw-complaints

TO BERNIE SANDERS for an amazing and well-fought campaign; one that called an unseasoned electorate enthusiastically out of their hidey places, and for calling strong attention to the issues of a progressive and working class populace. I offer as well, commiserations to Bernie, to his supporters, those who are my friends and family in particular, for disappointments suffered in that regard.

To Hillary Clinton, for a well and hard-fought campaign, one that stayed nonetheless for its difficulties, on a kind and diplomatic and compassionate course, for breaking this particular political glass ceiling, and to voters everywhere who remembers the good work she has done. Women who are working independently today in diverse fields that were once off-limits to women — we all — stand on her shoulders.

May All of America and the World-at-Large receive the benefit of the good work of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, and the progressive electorate.

The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha

a.k.a.

Bernie Sanders of Vermont

Bernie’s attempt to offer a re-make of the entire political system in one election cycle is a bit like Don Quixote's attempt to slay windmills. It’s the impossible dream, and yet we are endeared by his errant willfulness, his idealism, his undying love of the sweet and idealized Dulcinea. We, his supporters, become Sancho Panza, his devoted sidekick, not only safeguarding him in action but encouraging his dream because it’s such a good one, one that that promises to offer Sancho the governance of a small village; his supporters, control over their lives.

Bernie aka Don Quixote, has been fighting the good fight, the chivalrous fight; and though it’s clear that the love of his life is not flesh and blood real, his ideal love creates an image so powerful, it feeds the soul of the hopefully romantic, in this case the progressive democratic body. So seductive, no one wants to give it up. In our heart of hearts, though it may be unattainable in its present form, we want to make it real. The more pragmatic others attempt to clarify a more realistic pathway to the goal. His campaign and loyal constituents, feeling righteously indignant, cry out at the perceived injustice, "we was robbed", "it was rigged", relentlessly staying the course no matter what injury may come at the hands of their campaigns. True knights.

In the original story of Cervantes’ Don Quixote, the main character reads so many chivalric romances, he loses his sanity and sets out to revive chivalry, undo wrongs, and bring justice to the world. The windmills he attempts to slay in his quest, are seen as ferocious giants. He speaks of the “Golden Age” of man in which property does not exist and men live in peace. Don Quixote is injured in one of his knightly battles and takes a hit to his head. He retires to his home and after a health-restoring slumber, awakes from a dream, his sanity restored. He apologizes and makes restitution for any harm he has done, and places his legacy in the hands of his niece, bestowing his estate upon her. His niece, released from a dangerous betrothal, is striking out in her own rite. She is becoming the author of her own story.

If this has any relevance to the election today, it is intended, but meant with malice to none. I share this dream. I’m a romantic at heart. I believe in the true and perfected state of democracy. May Bernie’s legacy be held well & effectively by him and by the people he has beckoned into the realm of the outspoken voting public.

May we all, and especially these young adults who were Bernie’s knightly comrades, begin to take political action on what needs to be done, join forces to fight the common foe. Petition. Build coalition. Support wellness in our political process. End the blame game. Support Bernie to place his powerful legacy into Hillary’s hands; and then, allow her to be the author of her own story. Together we can build the collective and united Democratic Body Politic.

Make It So.

Marylyn Motherbear Scott, Mendocino

SUICIDE NET’S SHOCKING PRICE

Editor,

Denis Mulligan, general manager of the Golden Gate Bridge district said that despite the apparent setback (barrier cost bid $142 million rather than the consultant’s $76 million estimate), the barrier project will move forward.

Really?

In the real world (not the governmental world) don’t you think reasonable people would reconsider this ill-conceived plan?

When this was voted on, I think that the unbelievable estimate was $50 million. Now it is going to cost 284% of the amount estimated, and they will not reconsider?

The board voted unanimously to build the barrier to the applause of supporters “including family members of those who jumped from the span.”

Well, of course. But can anyone really determine how many lives will be saved with the barrier? Or will people bound to kill themselves find other means?

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Caltrans will be kicking in some money on this “bridge to nowhere.” Perhaps our money could be better spent on filling potholes, something that will benefit all of us.

How about more hearings on the barrier, with more widespread participation, than predominately the survivors of suicide victims?

With the higher cost perhaps a more representative crowd would likely attend such a meeting.

Art Wasserman, San Anselmo

ONE STEP CLOSER TO IDIOCRACY

UNDER A DICTATORSHIP like the one in the Soviet Union people are enslaved but they know it. Here in the United States the politicians constantly lie to people and they become immune to these lies because they have the privilege of voting for candidates that are pre-selected for them. But voting is rigged and democracy here is a gigantic profusion of lies and clever brainwashing.

— Lee Harvey Oswald

THIS IS THE GUY Obama and Hillary say we support:

“The coup is a gift from God”: Erdogan uses botched rebellion to start purge — including arrest of 3,000 secular judges — to forge radical new Turkey after urging Islamists to stay on the streets.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3693828/Turkish-president-Recep-Erdogan-describes-overthrow-plot-gift-God-allowing-cleanse-army-ordering-arrest-3-000-judges-prosecutors-thousands-supporters-continue-occupy-streets.html